Knock Knock
by chanvrerie
Summary: Tony's bored. What else is new?


"Knock, knock."

"Not now, Tony." She watches him move about her peripheral vision, hiding a smirk as he spins his black office chair around like a young boy who has to go to the bathroom. She continues typing and pointedly ignores his pouting.

"But Pepperrr..." he whines.

She fights to keep a straight face, still forcing herself not to look at him as she responds, "Hush, Tony. I don't have time to babysit. I have to get these papers in by today. And it's... almost twelve." She hears a huff, and she pauses for a fraction of a second when he disappears from her vision but refuses to give him the satisfaction of looking up. She types for a few minutes longer, thinking her boss finally gave up on provoking her and went to bed. No such luck.

"Boo." Pepper shrieks and flings her arms backward, sending a startled Tony stumbling back a few steps. She throws a hand to her heart and moves swiftly to stand before her boss, trying desperately to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind that informs her just how attractive he looks in his gray nightshirt and loose-fitting pants, confusion still hanging about his body language in a charmingly boyish way.

"Tony!" she snaps, shoving him rather pathetically and begging her heart to stop beating so rapidly. He stumbles again for a second, but quickly regains his footing, loses his confused look and bursts out laughing.

"You should have seen the look on your face-" he manages, holding his sides and bending over at the apparent hilarity in almost giving his personal assistant a heart attack. Exasperated (and, in truth, slightly amused), Pepper turns and walks back to her laptop with the intention of continuing her work as if she were doing it for an actual _adult_ rather than the bored four-year old trapped in the ridiculously handsome body she finds herself working for.

"Come on, Pep, don't be mad!" He says, voice still tainted with suppressed Tony-giggles.

Pepper smirks behind the laptop screen, then turns to face him. "Are you drunk?" As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she regrets them. Tony hasn't allowed himself to be drunk since he got home- hasn't even gone near the cabinet of bottles he used to spend so much time around. She shuts her eyes in mortification. She doesn't even know where the remark came from. Probably, she reasons, because it's so late and she just isn't thinking. Why isn't he sleeping already, anyway? Whatever the case, she can't bear to look at him, for fear that she just ruined his playful mood that's been rare since he's come home. Life seems to be on pause for a moment, and just when she decides she can't figure out exactly what to do, she hears a mixture of a low chuckle and a sharp exhale. She forces one eye open and sees Tony standing before her with a small smile.

"It's okay, Pepper. Old habits die hard and all that, right?" She nods, opening her other eye and blinking slowly at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, I know." If she expected him to be curt with her, she's sorely disappointed. There's something different about this moment, she notes, and she realizes it's because he's being completely... and bizarrely... sincere. Usually, if something about his experience in Afghanistan came up, even if it was unspoken, like now, he would brush her off with some snide, sarcastic comment and their evenings ended up with her working on papers, embarrassed and infuriated, and him, whacking away at some undeserving piece of metal in his workshop. Now, though, he's just staring at her openly, accepting her mistake and moving on.

Pepper tilts her head to one side and whispers quietly, "I know you've changed. I-"

He laughs again. His eyes are warm and content as he walks over to her and takes her hands in his. "Good," he mumbles, smilingly. "I'm sorry if I'm keeping you from your work. What is it you're working on anyway?"

Pepper cringes slightly. In the past few moments, the work that had seemed so important, managed to slip her mind. "Just some forms due today. Not anything big." She looks down, noting that her hands are still in his, and tries to figure out what to do about it. Tony bends down so their eyes are level and she drags her gaze up to meets his.

"So blow 'em off," he laughs. She can feel the heat of his breath and all words seem to abandon her, but then she sees the glimmer of mischief in his eyes and reminds herself of her goal not to be goaded into one of his I'm-bored-and-I-want-my-assistant-to-drop-everything-and-amuse-me moments. So she yanks her hands away from his, straightens up, and says, "Sorry, Mr. Stark. Duty calls." And she plants herself in her seat and starts typing, smiling triumphantly to herself. She loses herself in her work for a minute when she notices she hears no movement behind her and she actually braces herself for another attack, tensing her muscles and ducking her head. But it's still silent and she finds herself _again_ commanding her body to stay put and fight the overwhelming urge to look around.

Then she hears the muted squeak of tiny black wheels, and, in the corner of her eye, sees Tony in his chair, wheeling his way back into her view. For a satisfying few minutes, nothing is heard but the clacking of the keyboard and the noise of a black office chair spinning in circles.

"Miss Potts?"

"Hmm?"

"Knock, knock."

--

haha. poor pepper. :D

go on.. click the button.


End file.
